Al Gore Was Right

There was an inexplicable surge of interest in a 2010 blog post I wrote about renting my cats. By “surge” I mean three comments — in my world, that’s a surge of interest. The tongue-in-cheek piece suggested that I was offering my three cats to people who need to get rid of rodents.

Then on top of that, somebody sent me this email:

Just stumbled across your blog researching how to get rid of mice. I know your post was written in 2010, but are you by any chance still doing the rent-a-cat thing? My roommates and i live in Brooklyn, and the traps don’t seem to be working. I would hate to make them suffer with poison or sticky traps, and I’m not sure we can keep a cat long term. Let me know if you’re still doing this, or if you know of anyone who is!

I wrote back, explaining that no, I’m not still renting cats and that I was just kidding. I also suggested the reader try peanut butter as mouse bait for the traps.

So what the heck is going on? My theory is that climate change may be influencing rodents. It’s possible that there are more mice running around — or some environmental factor is forcing them into residences in greater numbers. What do I know, I’m no scientist!

We moved around two and a half years ago, and the old place was a duplex – we lived downstairs, while we had a nice couple who rented from us upstairs. We have always had two cats living with us, same as now. We never had problems with mice. When we moved and sold the old place, the new owner complained vociferously about the upstairs being overrun with mice. Our old tenants would have mentioned this had it been a problem. Hence the wisdom in the old adage: If the cats are away, the mice will play. I think she called an exterminator instead of getting a cat or two. Her loss.

Yes, cats are a superior solution, but I think in some circumstances the mice can get a foothold in places where the cats do not have access. It doesn’t take them long to expand their territory when the cats are removed.

I think there may be mice in my attic, for example. I can put traps up there — but that will be a huge hassle since it’s only acessible through a ceiling hatch. Maybe I should just have the cats spend a night or two up there and see what happens…

Actually, the White Footed Mouse population has been on a steady increase for the past 20 years. It’s expected to go into a decline beginning this year. This is directly associated with the increase in the deer tick population as they normally get their first feeding from the mice. Not to get all scientific about it…but it’s true.